The competition is a stepping stone between club and Super Rugby and will last 11 weeks from the end of August to the start of November.

The Vikings - led by Brumbies assistant coach Dan McKellar - will play their four home games at Viking Park in Tuggeranong. The team's licence will be shared by the Brumbies, the university and the Vikings club.

Australian Rugby Union chief executive Bill Pulver dismissed concerns players would be burnt out, with only a short break between the Super Rugby season starting in February and the end of the NRC in November.

‘‘To think our elite season stops in July I think is nonsense. You would never design a season that way,’’ Pulver said.